Inside Sony's "Scrappy" New Strategy

SAN FRANCISCO- How will Sony's North American operation grow, after laying off over 1,000 employees earlier this year? In a word, they're going to get "scrappy."

That's what Mike Fasulo, the president and COO of Sony Electronics, said Thursday in a briefing with reporters here that he conducted along with Deputy President Toshifumi Okuda.

"The team we're left with is a strong, talented team," Fasulo said, which he hopes will help implement his plan and strategy.

So what is that "scrappy" strategy? Fasulo is dividing products into the "Premium" segment- featuring 4K video, hi-res audio and digital imaging- and the "Foundation" segment (essentially, everything else.) The company, as announced by CEO Kaz Hirai earlier this year, has also reduced its SKU count from over 2,000 to about 750.

The major areas of success Fasuo sees are three- the home, audio and imaging.

And with that came the day's big announcement: Sony is teaming with Best Buy to put "Sony Experience at Best Buy" stores in 350 Best Buy locations nationwide. The store-within-a-store concept will help the company tout its 4K and hi-res audio products, as well as other SKUs. In establishing the mini-stores, Sony joins Apple, Microsoft and Samsung, which also announced that sort of concept on Thursday. (See separate story for more.)

It's important to remember, Fasulo concluded, that "this is a fun, entertaining industry."